On its final approach to Saturn, NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured our first closeup of Phoebe OTD in 2004 at a distance of just 2,068 km.
Phoebe is unlike Saturn's other moons: It orbits Saturn at a distance almost four times greater than its nearest neighbor, has an inclined, retrograde orbit, and is very dark compared to other Saturnian moons. Scientists have concluded that Phoebe it is a captured centaur that originated in the Kuiper belt.
ALT Phoebe appears as a crater-pocked body in the blackness of space in this image taken on June 11, 2004. Credit: NASA/JPL